French history from 1796 to 1940

Map of French Empire at its Height

Napoléon 1769 - 1795

Napoléon 1769 - 1795

Napoléon 1795 - 1804

Napoléon 1804 - 1814

Napoléon 1814 - 1821

The 1st Republic [1792-1804]

• The National Convention of the French Revolution [Sept 1792-1795] (Fall of Robspierre on July 27, 1794; end of the reign of terror) 

• The Directory [1795-1799] (5 Directors.? Coup d’Etat by Napoléon Bonaparte on Nov. 9, 1799) 

• The First Consul [1799-1804] (Napoléon Bonaparte seized power and was made Consul for life in 1802) 

The 1st Empire [1804-1814]?

Brief: 

1799 - Napoleon Bonaparte, returning from Egypt, via Fréjus, seized power in a coup d'état on "18 Brumaire" day (by the new French calendar),and headed the new Consulat. 

He created a new army, using able-bodied Frenchmen rather than the upperclass and nobility. 

He began his bid for power, eventually controlling most of western Europe (except Britain and Portugal). 

1812 - Napoleon was bogged down in snows of the Russian winter. 

1814, April - Defeated by an overwhelming force of Austrian, English, Prussian and Swedish troops, Napoleon was exiled to Elba, embarking at Fréjus. 

1815 - Napoleon escaped from Elba and set out on the Route Napoléon to recover the world he had lost. 

1815 (18 June) - He fought his final battle at Waterloo, against Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, and was exiled to Saint Helena off the coast of Africa. 

1821 - Napoleon died in exile, but is remembered for his glories 

The Restoration of the Bourbons [1814-1848] 

• Louis XVIII [1814-1824] (Brother of Louis XVI; Napoleon was exiled to Elbe) 

• Charles X [1824-1830] (Brother of Louis XVI and XVIII;? Was deposed by the July, 1830 Revolution) 

• Louis-Philippe I, the Citizen King [1830-1848] (Son of Philippe d’Orléans; abdicated Feb. 24, 1848) 

The 2nd Republic [1848-1852]

• Louis Napoléon Bonaparte [1848-1852] (Nephew of Napoléon I; Elected president Dec. 10, 1848; Accomplished a coup d’Etat Dec. 2, 1851) 

The 2nd Empire [1852-1870]

• Napoléon III [1852-1870] (Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Emperor, Eugenie de Montijo, Empress; Made Emperor on Dec. 2, 1852; Capitulated at Sedan on Sept. 1, 1870; fell Sept. 4, 1870; Their son, Prince Imperial {1856-1879} died in Zulu War; Eugenie died in 1920) 

The 3rd Republic [1870-1940]

• Adolphe Thiers [Sep 1870 to Feb. 1871] (Gov. of Natl. Defense); During the Franco-Prussian War which was won by Germany in 1871; [The Paris Commune and the Manifesto of March 18, 1871][1871-1873] (First elected Pres. by the National Assembly on Feb. 17, 1871; Put out of office on May 24, 1873; Elected president by the people , May 1871) 

• Marchal Patrice de MacMahon [1873-1879] 

• Jules Grévy?[1879-1887] (Reelected in Dec. 1885; stepped down, after the Wilson affair, Dec. 1, 1887) 

o Statute of Liberty [1885] 

• Sadi Carnot [1887-1894] (Assassinated in Lyon on June 24, 1894) 

o Eiffel Tower [1889] 

• Jean Casimir-Perier [1894-1895] (Forced to resign on Jan. 15, 1895) 

• Félix Faure?[1895-1899] (Died on Feb 16, 1899; Best known for the Affaire Dreyfus) 

• émile Loubet [1899-1906] (Separation of the church and the state, 1905) 

• Armand Fallières [1906-1913] 

• Raymond Poincaré?[1913-1920] (1914-1918, the war of 14 (WWI); France won; Clemenceau was president of the council from 1917 to 1920) 

• Paul Deschanel [1920] (Elected in Jan., stepped down in Sept. because of health) 

• Alexandre Millerand [1920-1924] (Hostile to the cartel of the left; had to step down in June, 1924) 

• Gaston Doumergue [1924-1931] 

• Paul Doumer [1931-1932] (Assassinated May 6, 1932) 

• Albert Lebrun [1932-1940] ([1939-1940] Germany conquered? France; Lebrum reelected in April, 1939; Resigned and was replaced by Marshal Pétain in July, 1940)